Sumar pressures Junts to endorse the housing decree: "They have to explain why they are harming the citizens"

MadridAfter the clash with the PSOE within the council of ministers Last Friday, Sumar is now putting all its pressure on Junts and the PP to ratify the extension of rental contracts and the limitation on price increases. This is the second decree approved following the clash between the PSOE and Sumar: it has been in effect since Sunday, but needs the approval of Congress—with the decisive vote of Junts—to remain valid. Early Monday morning, in an interview on RNE, the Second Vice President of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, made it clear that the vote will be "the last day" to extend the validity period as much as possible to validate the measure. Thus, Moncloa will have thirty working days to bring this decree-law to the Lower House, which places the parliamentary review in the first week of May. "The three right-wing parties have to explain why they are harming the citizens of our country," Díaz said. Shortly afterwards, on TVE, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, called for the "biggest pressure campaign" to get the Lower House to give the green light.

On the other hand, the first decree approved on Friday, which contains tax measures and will be voted on this Thursday, also lacks guaranteed parliamentary support. Without clarifying how they will vote, Podemos has criticized it as being "ineffective" in lowering prices and "insufficient to protect people." On the other side of the political spectrum, the People's Party (PP) has demanded further tax cuts. PP Deputy Secretary Cuca Gamarra announced that they will send a letter to the Spanish government to "express their concern and disappointment" that the decree "falls short." "More aid is needed," she argued. The PP demands that the personal income tax (IRPF) be adjusted "immediately." However, despite these initial objections, the PP headquarters in Madrid (Génova) has not yet clarified how they will vote, awaiting a response from the Prime Minister's office (Moncloa) and continuing to analyze the full range of proposals contained in the decree.

Act of pressure against Junts

And the message was repeated throughout the unified event convened by Sumar in Congress. The Constitutional Chamber of the lower house hosted the five ministers from the left-wing coalition to the left of the PSOE, as well as the leader of United Left, Antonio Maíllo, and members of parliament from the group. Sumar's spokesperson in Congress, Verónica Martínez, opened the meeting, boasting that they had been a "decisive force" and a "political engine" in "pushing" the PSOE to enable "progress," and she opened the floodgates of pressure on Junts: "Let each group think about its vote; politics only has meaning if it guarantees rights and security to those who need it most," she demanded. And the other speakers took up the challenge.

"The Spanish government did what it had to do; now we must mobilize everyone," Yolanda Díaz declared to her supporters. She called on members of parliament to meet with unions and environmental and feminist groups to "win in the streets a measure that is already in effect" and to work to "mobilize" society. "Whoever tries to overturn it will have to answer for their actions," she warned the PP, Junts, and Vox parties.

The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, also sent a message to Junts: "We invite them to reflect deeply on how to best serve the interests of Catalonia." "It's pointless for the Spanish government to impose vetoes on itself and avoid bringing things to Congress for fear of losing them," he added. The federal coordinator of United Left, Antonio Maíllo, guaranteed that they would "make Junts sweat bullets" and expressed confidence in a "broad social mobilization." "We will give it our all. Pedro Sánchez dedicated one minute [to the press conference], and we will dedicate a month," said the Minister of Health, Mónica García.

Podemos will vote in favor of the housing decree

Meanwhile, Podemos announced on Monday that it will vote in favor of the housing decree because it contains "measures that could be positive," despite the party predicting that the vote will be derailed because the Spanish government chose to "isolate the measures" in a separate decree. According to the Secretary of Organization, Pablo Fernández, they would have preferred everything to be included in a single text because the right wing "would have had a slightly harder time opposing it." He also believes it is "worrying" and "outrageous" that the Moncloa Palace (the Prime Minister's office) did not include a moratorium on evictions for vulnerable families. Furthermore, without clarifying how they will vote, he criticized the decree containing tax measures, stating that it will be "ineffective" in lowering prices and "insufficient to protect people."

Junts opposes it

That same Friday afternoon, Junts deputy Marta Madrenas made it clear that Junts would not support the housing decree. In a video that he shared on his social mediaHe criticized the extension of rental contracts, calling it "nonsensical," likening it to a "disguised temporary expropriation without compensation," framing it within a "line of anti-property policies that continues to sink the rental market," and accusing the PSOE and Sumar parties of "cutting back landlords' rights as they please." "What does the war in Iran have to do with this? Why two years? Is it a coincidence, or does it coincide too well with the election calendar?" he asked, regarding the period the Spanish government has extended rental agreements.